Five bodies found in forest in North after missing chopper located
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FIVE bodies were found in a dense forest near Doi Inthanon in Chiang Mai Monday after a helicopter on a flood relief mission in Mae Hong Son crashed on Sunday.
Commander of the 33rd Army Circle Maj Gen Kosol Prathumchat said a rescue team from the 7th Infantry Division confirmed that they found the missing chopper and its four crew and a passenger.
Rescuers abseiled down between two narrow cliffs and found the body of Maj General Nopporn Ruanchan, commander of the 4th Infantry Division whose body was stuck in the helicopter.
Officials said the helicopter did not explode and they suspect strong winds blew the helicopter into big trees during bad weather and low visibility.
Traces of damage were found on large trees nearby. The tail of the helicopter was found on the plateau but the body fell into a 500-metre deep ravine.
Four other bodies were found 100 to 200 metres from the helicopter.
Kosol instructed the rescue team not to retrieve any of the bodies till he got to the scene, as it may affect the process of identification, which can be done today at Kavila Fort and they were ordered to take no pictorial records.
Kosol said six rescue teams were dispatched from the 7th Infantry Division to try to find the missing chopper, which disappeared off the radar while heading to the northern province of Phitsanulok.
The rescuers found pieces of broken helicopter blades and documents at a spot one kilometre from an area where Doi Inthanon National Park officials said they could smell petrol. The spot was the same area a mobile phone signal from Nopporn was detected.
